Watford2 - 0Bournemouth

Watford sealed their place in the third round of the Capital One Cup with a hard-earned victory over Bournemouth.

Elliott Ward diverted the ball into his own net to give Watford the lead and Jonathan Bond tipped Cherries striker Brett Pitman's free kick onto the post.

Andrew Surman saw his header fly just wide while Shaun MacDonald twice went close for the visitors.

But Watford sealed victory with Cristian Battocchio chipping Ryan Allsop to finish off a fine break.

Capital One Cup third round draw

Man Utd v Liverpool

Sunderland v Peterborough

West Ham v Cardiff

Man City v Wigan

Burnley v Nott'm Forest

Newcastle v Leeds

Southampton v Bristol City

West Brom v Arsenal

Swindon v Chelsea

Tranmere v Stoke

Watford v Norwich

Aston Villa v Tottenham

Hull v Huddersfield

Leicester v Derby

Birmingham v Swansea

Fulham v Everton

Matches to be played on 24-25 September

Watford manager Gianfranco Zola, who made 10 changes, saw his side take the lead in unusual fashion after 15 minutes.

As Fernando Forestieri tried to pick out Javier Acuna from the right, Ward intercepted but his attempt to chest the ball back to Allsop looped over the helpless goalkeeper into the net.

The lead was almost doubled when an audacious cross-field pass from Forestieri set Watford away on the counter-attack and Daniel Pudil nodded the ball on to Davide Faraoni, whose low cross from the right was not far away from the sliding Acuna.

Bournemouth almost levelled with their first effort of note when Pitman's low curling effort from a free-kick was touched onto the post by keeper Bond.

Pitman also fired over after a mistake from Faraoni before Acuna went closer at the other end with a deflected 25-yard strike that flew narrowly wide of Allsop's right-hand post.

The Cherries should have equalised shortly before half-time when Marc Pugh's cross from the left picked out the unmarked Surman, but he headed badly wide.

Watford needed Bond to come to their rescue again when he raced from his line to deny MacDonald, who was put through on goal.

Bond also had to hold onto a well-stuck shot from Pugh as the visitors continued to threaten, only to be undone on the counter-attack by a superb second Hornets goal.

Acuna attacked the Cherries defence at pace before slipping the ball to Battocchio, who did not break stride as he produced a delightful chip from the edge of the area that beat a bemused Allsop via the underside off his crossbar.

Ward then met a Cherries corner with a powerful close-range header, only for Bond to pull off the save off the night to divert the ball away.

Acuna was not far away from adding a third with a curling shot as Watford saw out the remainder of the contest in relative comfort.

Live text and stats

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

League Cup

Home Team

Score

Away Team

Time

Watford

2-0

Bournemouth

FT

(HT 1-0)

Ward (og) 15

Battocchio 66

Watford

30 Bond

02 Brown (Angella 63)

05 Belkalem

06 Ekstrand

07 Battocchio

16 Murray

18 Pudil

19 Faraoni (Anya 72)

28 Smith

11 Forestieri

15 Acuna (McGugan 84)

Substitutes

01 Almunia,

04 Angella,

10 McGugan,

32 O'Nien,

20 Fabbrini,

21 Anya,

25 Ikpeazu

Bournemouth

01 Allsop

02 Francis

05 Elphick

14 Harte

22 Ward

04 Surman

07 Pugh (McDermott 83)

16 MacDonald (Thomas 63)

20 Fraser (Coulibaly 63)

26 Hughes

10 Pitman

Substitutes

25 Flahavan,

03 Cook,

24 Addison,

21 Coulibaly,

23 McDermott,

09 Grabban,

15 Thomas

Ref: DeadmanAtt: 9,824

WATFORD

BOURNEMOUTH

Possession

Watford50%

Bournemouth50%

Attempts on target

Watford2

Bournemouth2

Attempts off target

Watford5

Bournemouth4

Corners

Watford3

Bournemouth4

Fouls

Watford9

Bournemouth2

Final Result

Full Time

90:00+4:19 The referee blows the whistle to end the game.

90:00+1:24 Free kick taken by Andrew Surman.

90:00+1:06 Free kick awarded for a foul by Lewis McGugan on Andrew Surman.

89:45 Joel Ekstrand manages to make a clearance.

88:13 Corner taken by Lewis McGugan from the left by-line.

87:41 Lewis McGugan has an effort at goal.

83:35 Substitution Lewis McGugan is brought on as a substitute for Javi Acuna Caballero.

82:10 Substitution Donal McDermott comes on in place of Marc Pugh.

81:36 Javi Acuna Caballero takes the chance to get an effort at goal and missed to the right of the goal.

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